Economic relationships and health inequalities: improving public health recommendations

Sayer, A. and McCartney, G. (2021) Economic relationships and health inequalities: improving public health recommendations. Public Health, 199, pp. 103-106. (doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2021.08.017) (PMID:34583201)

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Abstract

Policy recommendations, which aim to reduce health inequalities in society, often focus upon improving the incomes, working conditions and physical environments of the most deprived groups. We agree with these recommendations but argue that they are insufficient to reduce health inequalities because they fail to address the economic relationships between social groups that lead to health inequalities and which perpetuate them over time. A comprehensive programme to reduce health inequalities will require policies that address the numerous ways in which economic resources flow from poorer groups to richer groups through the design of the economy. In this commentary we describe key economic relationships between social groups that lead to inequalities, namely rent, interest, capital gains, profit, monopoly and speculation. Addressing these causes of economic inequality in recommendations to reduce health inequalities should be considered by future research in this area.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:McCartney, Professor Gerard
Authors: Sayer, A., and McCartney, G.
College/School:College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
Journal Name:Public Health
Publisher:Elsevier
ISSN:0033-3506
ISSN (Online):1476-5616
Published Online:25 September 2021
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2021 The Royal Society for Public Health
First Published:First published in Public Health 199: 103-106
Publisher Policy:Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

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